Mouser, thanks for setting the guidelines straight. I fully agree.
In the meantime, no one seems to have used the "online desktop" applications, such as www.ulteo.com -- and I'm still curious if one could really build one's computer life completely around online applications? No assurance of data privacy of course, but would certainly alleviate the fear of confiscation or theft of hardware.
Has anyone really sat down and thought through thoroughly [gosh, what a string of words!] if there are sufficient online resources to go without desktop software?-TomColvin (August 03, 2008, 07:26 PM)
It starts to look like the only positive contribution from the U.S. to the world are the products from their film industry ....-Shades (August 03, 2008, 07:59 PM)
Well, we've got some interesting commentary going on.
I myself have been thinking through the implications of laptop seizure this afternoon. And I'm beginning to come to some conclusions -- they have immense potential impact on software developers.
Let's say the US govt seizes my computer. I do not live in the US, so getting it back would probably take forever -- and considerable expense. Anyway, let's assume the government has my computer.
So then I buy a new laptop and try to reinstall my software. OPPS!!! Microsoft won't be happy. I'll have to buy yet another copy of Windows. And Microsoft Office? Yet another copy. [Have you ever tried to close down one computer and transfer Microsoft software to a second machine?] And what all the other commercial and shareware software that allows only ONE installation on ONE machine to be used by ONE person only. Sadly, that affects a number of my critical software programs.
So getting up a second machine can be sheer madness.
CONCLUSION: I'm thinking seriously about abandoning Windows altogether. I've bought too many copies of it over the years anyway. I'm thinking seriously of buying software ONLY IF it allows installation on more than one computer. Ideally, I'll use ONLY freeware and open-source software. Or online applications.
I'll end up with a very slim laptop indeed. And many deserving software developers will not longer recieve any business from me.
THOSE ARE THE IMPLICATIONS.-TomColvin (August 03, 2008, 09:17 PM)
Sadly, I think all of us simply have to think through our own strategy. My own strategy, I suspect, will be to carry some device that will get me online as I travel, and that device will contain no data whatsoever. I'm not so much worried about seizure of data as I am about interruption of my work if I lose my computer. Of course, this threat is probably even greater from thieves. I gather this is the design behind the Lenovo SafeBook.-TomColvin (August 03, 2008, 11:34 AM)
Bottomline: we in are a world where the individual just look after him-herself. Which, frnakly, is probably the best tactic in any event.-TomColvin (August 04, 2008, 12:37 PM)
The question someone raised about how often confiscation actually occurs really is relevant (to me at least).-mouser (August 04, 2008, 05:14 PM)
.. but if this is one of those rules that border guards use when they get in a bad mood that's something else entirely.
Some people like to compare confiscation of laptop to confiscation of luggages. This to me is a flawed logic because one cannot clone your items in your luggage. They can search your luggage right there which would not take more than half an hour. And if they cannot find any suspicious item material they will need to let you go .-kartal (August 04, 2008, 05:36 PM)
I had a business acquaintance get detained because his luggage got stolen from his hotel and he attempted to board a flight out of Denver, CO without it.-40hz (August 05, 2008, 03:07 PM)
weird, how did they know that he was supposed to have a luggage? Is this implying that anyone who gets on a plane needs to carry a luggage? :)-kartal (August 05, 2008, 03:11 PM)
Anybody feel that taking digital data into China or Russia is a secure thing to do?-cranioscopical (August 05, 2008, 04:14 PM)
it seems like if you get asked by a homeland security guard why you have no luggage, there is only one safe answer guaranteed not to raise any eyebrows: to tell him that the homeland security guard at the previous gate confiscated it ;D-mouser (August 05, 2008, 05:16 PM)
it seems like if you get asked by a homeland security guard why you have no luggage, there is only one safe answer guaranteed not to raise any eyebrows: to tell him that the homeland security guard at the previous gate confiscated it ;D-mouser (August 05, 2008, 05:16 PM)
it seems like if you get asked by a homeland security guard why you have no luggage, there is only one safe answer guaranteed not to raise any eyebrows: to tell him that the homeland security guard at the previous gate confiscated it ;DNice one ;D-mouser (August 05, 2008, 05:16 PM)
The question someone raised about how often confiscation actually occurs really is relevant (to me at least). If this is one of those theoretical rules that they put in place for really unusual cases where they suspect your laptop is a bomb and it never really happens then that's one thing.. but if this is one of those rules that border guards use when they get in a bad mood that's something else entirely.Regardless of how it starts out, it will end up being both. Face it, as long as Guard X can justify their actions to (Chronically preoccupied) "Boss" Y ... You'll never see that device again...-mouser (August 04, 2008, 05:14 PM)
(see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=14295.msg123659#msg123659))
"...they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire... " - Milton Waddams
-40hz (August 06, 2008, 10:22 AM)
Customs officials here and abroad have always had the right if inspection and seizure of personal property on entry into their country. If you think US Customs are bad try some of the other countries. They practically strip you and even look in your wallet in some countries. Facts of life. At lest in the US you can seek redress in court.-tymrwt33 (August 15, 2008, 09:25 PM)
News: Judge Rules Man Cannot Be Forced To Decrypt HD
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 19, @06:21PM
from the cold-dead-fingers dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes
"In Vermont, US Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier has ruled that forcing someone to divulge the password to decrypt their hard drive violates the 5th Amendment. Border guards testify that they saw child pornography on the defendant's laptop when the PC was on, but they made the mistake of turning it off and were unable to access it again because the drive was protected by PGP. Although prosecutors offered many ways to get around the 5th Amendment protections, the Judge would have none of that and quashed the grand jury subpoena requesting the defendant's PGP passphrase. A conviction is still likely because prosecutors have the testimony of the two border guards who saw the drive while it was open."
The article stresses the potential importance of this ruling (which was issued last November but went unnoticed until now): "Especially if this ruling is appealed, US v. Boucher could become a landmark case. The question of whether a criminal defendant can be legally compelled to cough up his encryption passphrase remains an unsettled one, with law review articles for the last decade arguing the merits of either approach."
The problem is I store many passwords on my laptop - passwords and other confidential data in word/excel files that provide access to my email accounts and other sites. I'm afraid of this falling into the hands of the TSA people.-BC5 (August 21, 2008, 01:00 AM)
The worst imaginable pass phrase (eg, "this is my secret password") is many times more secure than an average single word password (eg, "god123"). And it's easier to remember.*-http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000360.html
The problem is I store many passwords on my laptop - passwords and other confidential data in word/excel files that provide access to my email accounts and other sites. I'm afraid of this falling into the hands of the TSA people.-BC5 (August 21, 2008, 01:00 AM)
I suggest you stop storing your passwords in Word/Excel and use something much better like fSekrit (https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/). Also, make sure you have a good passphrase (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000360.html). Even 1024-bit encryption would be practically useless without a good passphrase.The worst imaginable pass phrase (eg, "this is my secret password") is many times more secure than an average single word password (eg, "god123"). And it's easier to remember.*-http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000360.html-Deozaan (August 21, 2008, 02:03 AM)
The problem is I store many passwords on my laptop - passwords and other confidential data in word/excel files that provide access to my email accounts and other sites. I'm afraid of this falling into the hands of the TSA people.-BC5 (August 21, 2008, 01:00 AM)
I suggest you stop storing your passwords in Word/Excel and use something much better like fSekrit (https://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/fSekrit/). Also, make sure you have a good passphrase (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000360.html). Even 1024-bit encryption would be practically useless without a good passphrase.The worst imaginable pass phrase (eg, "this is my secret password") is many times more secure than an average single word password (eg, "god123"). And it's easier to remember.*-http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000360.html-Deozaan (August 21, 2008, 02:03 AM)
Yes, well the problem with that is that so many systems/programs put such arbitrary limits on the "password", (eg. 3-8 characters consisting of at least one character from at least 3 out of the 4 groups: lowercase, uppercase, number and symbol), that it makes picking an easily remembered "passphrase" a joke.
I used to have all my program serial numbers in a plain text file which was then encrypted using my PGP key, (which was 2048 bit and a passphrase of 25 odd characters). Very secure but an exceeding PITA when I needed it and didn't have PGP handy :-[
Nowadays, just a self-extracting encrypted RAR executable - much more convenient and WinRAR's encryption is very strong.
Also, I picked up an imation Atom (http://www.imation.com/products/flash_devices/usb_flash_atom.html) flashdrive. Comes with software that lets you make an encrypted partition, if the wrong password is entered 3 times, (or was it 5?), it formats the drive. If you are accessing the encrypted section and you unplug it, it automatically locks it again. Even better, it's very, very small - smaller than a Type A USB plug.
But if you wanted to carry your data with you in a non-obvious way, I would suggest grabbing an 8GB MicroSD flash card - encrypt your data, put it on it, hide it - I very much doubt that they would be able to find it with a cursory search or even using the airport x-ray machines. Don't carry the reader, otherwise they'll know what to look for - just buy a reader at your destination.-4wd (August 21, 2008, 02:52 AM)-40hz (August 21, 2008, 01:14 PM)
But if you wanted to carry your data with you in a non-obvious way, I would suggest grabbing an 8GB MicroSD flash card - encrypt your data, put it on it, hide it - I very much doubt that they would be able to find it with a cursory search or even using the airport x-ray machines. Don't carry the reader, otherwise they'll know what to look for - just buy a reader at your destination.-4wd (August 21, 2008, 02:52 AM)
I still wonder what the people who absolutely MUST travel with their laptop do...?-Armando (August 30, 2008, 09:40 PM)
What is the optimun size of laptop hard disk size for swallowing (and how do I get it out again - I may have a big bum but ....) :-\That will require careful analysis...-Carol Haynes (September 01, 2008, 02:28 AM)
What is the optimun size of laptop hard disk size for swallowing (and how do I get it out again - I may have a big bum but ....) :-\-Carol Haynes (September 01, 2008, 02:28 AM)
Your Rights Online: Bill To Add Accountability To Border Laptop Search
Posted by kdawson on Wednesday September 17, @08:07AM
from the is-a-receipt-too-much-to-ask dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes
"Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would add accountability to the DHS searches conducted upon the laptops of those crossing the border. Specifically, it would require the issue of receipts to those who had their property confiscated so that it could later be returned, would limit how long the DHS can keep laptops, would require them to keep the laptop's information secure, and would create a way to complain about abuse. Finally, the DHS would be required to keep track of how many searches were done and report the details to Congress. Rep. Sanchez also has also issued a statement about the proposed bill."
| One of my favorite artists, Evan Roth, is working on a project that will be released soon - the pictures say it all, it's a "carry on" communication system. These metal places contain messages which will appear when they are X-Rayed. |